Head Start migrant contract pulled

Program aimed at children of farm workers; local agency's issues cited as factor

STOCKTON - The beleaguered organization that operates Head Start programs for thousands of low-income families in San Joaquin County was struck another blow when it lost a contract it has had for about four decades to provide preschool and other services to hundreds of migrant, farm-working families during the harvest season.

STOCKTON - The beleaguered organization that operates Head Start programs for thousands of low-income families in San Joaquin County was struck another blow when it lost a contract it has had for about four decades to provide preschool and other services to hundreds of migrant, farm-working families during the harvest season.

In recent months, Stockton's Head Start Child Development Council Inc. has been investigated and bailed out by county government, which contracts with the nonprofit to offer Head Start and Early Head Start programs for 3,000 children throughout the county. The money comes from a roughly $24 million federal grant that, typically, repeats automatically every year. But the federal agency overseeing Head Start programs announced earlier this year it would open up that grant to competition. That move was prompted when a classroom review landed the local program near the bottom in one category when compared to other programs across the country.

All that preceded the latest hit to the agency, the loss of a $2.6 million contract with a regional agency to operate the Migrant Head Start program, designed to extend the preschool and other school-readiness programs into the summer for young children whose parents must work to harvest crops. That contract pays for the program for more than 500 children, most of them in San Joaquin County.

The nonprofit's other problems contributed to the loss of the migrant program.

"Because of the many issues being addressed by San Joaquin County government, it has put us in a risk position," said Janet Orvis-Cook, executive director of the Child/Family Services Division of the Stanislaus County Office of Education, part of the Central California Migrant Head Start collaboration that pays for programs in seven counties.

Orvis-Cook said the organization has been happy with the quality of service provided over the past 40 years and more, but there is concern that the recent disruption could hurt the quality. And there is more at stake than just the migrant programs operated by the Child Development Council. It could also threaten the federal grant money used to pay for Head Start, Early Head Start and Migrant Head Start for 7,000 children in the region, she said. "It's not just about the Head Start Child Development Council. It's about the big picture."

The current contract with the Child Development Council expired at the end of February without being renewed.

The Child Development Council operates 19 migrant Head Start sites for 509 children. Most are in San Joaquin County, but there are some in Contra Costa County, too. For the most part, the migrant programs don't start until May.

In the meantime, Orvis-Cook said the search will be on for the nonprofit's replacement so the program will be their for the families and agricultural industry that depend on it. "We have a plan."

But now it is unclear where the services will be provided and who will be providing them.

San Joaquin County Supervisor Carlos Villapudua said there are local organizations capable of taking on the program and minimizing disruption.

Together with the other Head Start programs, migrant Head Start helps prepare children for school and positions them for success when they get there, he said.

And many of the migrant Head Start teachers in the summer are the same people who teach during the regular school year. "I want to be able to provide the services for the kids and keep the employees working."

In total, about 35 jobs are at stake, according to county and labor officials.

Since the Child Development Council asked for help in January when it was unable to pay all of its bills, San Joaquin County government has stepped in with more money and has played a closer role with the organization's management, which has had vacancies in key positions. Before that, the county had completed an investigation that supported some allegations of wrongdoing by management.

And county officials are still looking into what, exactly, caused the financial problems at the nonprofit.

But they said the loss of the $2.6 million in funds for migrant Head Start wouldn't impact other Head Start programs. "There aren't repercussions," Human Services Deputy Director Michael Miller said.

The Child Development Council was notified in mid-February the contract wasn't being renewed. It cited part of the agreement about receiving notification in changes to key management positions, which included those that were vacant.

Because of that, news of the end of the contract was not entirely surprising, then-Child Development Council Executive Director Gloryanna Rhodes said on Thursday, the day before she retired. "It is painful," she said. "It's been around for a long, long time."

Contact reporter Zachary K. Johnson at (209) 546-8258 or zjohnson@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/johnsonblog and on Twitter @zacharykjohnson.